Validity and Reliability of the Short Form- 36 Items Questionnaire as a Measure of Quality of Life in Elderly Iranian Population

Abstract

Abstract: The utility of The SF-36 questionnaire for evaluation of health related quality of life was not clear in elderly people. The Cross-Sectional study was designed and Iranian version of The SF-36 was administered to random sample of 100 old subjects over 60 years old. Finding showed good internal consistency over 0.7 for all subscales of questionnaire. Convergent validity was obtained for all subscales with comparison for General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) but was not strongly at 2 subscales Role emotional and Role physical. Discriminant validity was addressed for gender but for age groups role emotional, mental health and general health subscales were not different significantly. A principal component analysis was leaded one factor structure. Evidence for reliability of the questionnaire was good. But validity appeared moderate satisfactory. However this questionnaire seems the only measure for assessment of health related quality at life among elderly population.